2013 Bangladesh – Jensen Yap

Outside of the Box

“So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.” – 1 Thessalonians 2:8

God highlighted many signs on this trip and He is really moving powerfully in the nation of Bangladesh. Before leaving for Bangladesh, God spoke to me about how this trip was going to challenge me and also strengthen me spiritually, especially in the area of my faith. And this definitely ended up happening.

Bangladesh is said to be one of the poorest countries in the third world. And now I know how this can be true after staying in Jessore, which is 6hours away from the capital of Dhaka. You can barely see lights at night because there is no electricity in most areas. People are forced to close their shops and stop most activity when it becomes dark. But our team was not limited by this. Instead we used our nights to pray and contend for the nation. We know that money, NGOs, funds, or other associations cannot really remove poverty. Only Jesus can. Understanding this is what shifted my attention from poverty to the Gospel. The Gospel brings good news to the unreached but also power and increase to those who believe in Him. Now that I know how important the Gospel is for Bangladesh, I realize this doesn’t end with a fancy testimony or by me telling everyone that we saw thousands of salvations. This is so much bigger. God wants us to see His kingdom expand in Bangladesh, especially as He uses the Gospel to free the Bengali people from oppression and poverty. This trip to Bangladesh is not for us but it’s for the Bengalis. It’s for their future, and their generations to come.

On our second day in Jessore, our team was sent to a local village which consists of mostly Hindus. As our team pastor (Pastor Marcus) was preaching the Gospel, a woman interrupted the service and started asking questions. The crowd became chaotic and honestly I was pretty afraid at first. But later we found out that the woman was once a Hindu fundamentalist. But her husband was so sick and couldn’t provide financially for her family, so she started to struggle. She went to India with her husband to visit every witch doctor but everyone told them that he was going to die. That’s why she started to doubt her own religion and became an atheist. When Pastor Marcus was preaching about how Jesus resurrected after 3days, she doubted it and started interrupting the service. But our spirits became stronger and we started to have faith that something special was happening. During the healing altar call, her husband actually came up to receive prayer. And after the team prayed for her husband, the woman actually ended up accepting Christ with him! We were so shocked, but this is how God works. When it comes to faith, I have to believe that HE is moving the hearts of the people, not me. I have to destroy the box that I put God in. His ways are higher that my ways. And this is how God spoke to me specifically about my faith. He is moving in Bangladesh and I am here to partner in HIS ways, not to see my ways and my methods. To sum up, this trip was so remarkable. We saw so many people raise their hands to receive Jesus. We saw churches and Bible schools being built in the villages. We even saw future pastors rising up and take their places in ministry. God is moving in this nation. He loves Bangladesh so much.

Now that the team is back, there are actually a few ways we can strategically pray for Bangladesh. First, pray for Pastor Ishan. He is a native pastor in Dhaka but he oversees many pastors under him. Let’s pray for wisdom and provision for his ministry. His dream is to see every village have a home church, but it requires him to raise up more pastors and leaders. So let’s pray for his leadership, and for strong pastors to rise up with him, providing support and encouragement. Second pray for all the people that raised their hands for salvation. Let’s pray for everyone that committed their lived to Jesus will attend the local home fellowship and service. Pray that they will be discipled and become disciple-makers. Lastly let’s pray for the nation of Bangladesh. Declare that this nation is going to prosper and that the Gospel will spread to every, single village. Bangladesh will be a testimony itself when people look back on its history and see that Jesus makes what is impossible, possible. He will be the one to bring full hope and joy into this nation.